The fields of machine component salvaging and remanufacturing have grown rapidly in recent years. Systems and components that only recently would have been scrapped are now repaired and/or refurbished and returned to service. For many years machine components have routinely been “rebuilt” and used again, but often only after the components' dimensions, operating characteristics or other features are modified out of necessity from original specs. It is more desirable in many instances for systems and components to be remanufactured to a condition as good or better than new. With this goal in mind, the development of remanufacturing strategies in certain technical areas has been rapid. In other areas, however, and in the case of certain specific parts, engineers continue to find it challenging to return components to a commercially and technically acceptable state, much less a condition identical to or better than that held in a former service life.
Chief among the challenges in successfully remanufacturing certain machine components is the difficulty in holding tolerances in a repair process. Geometric tolerancing and dimensional tolerancing are often relatively tightly specified for new parts. Where the new part consists of a casting or the like, it is often possible to machine features of interest on the new casting while held in a chuck or fixture in a single machining cell, and hence tight tolerances are more readily achievable. Machining for repair purposes and the like, however, often requires that the part be processed on multiple different machines, or with multiple different machining tools which cannot so readily be located and controlled as is the case with newly manufactured parts. For these and other reasons, successful remanufacturing strategies for many parts remain elusive. One known remanufacturing strategy for hydraulic pumps is set forth in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,934,303 to Awwad et al.